Promise
by abstruseGlitch
Summary: Five years after leaving the bathhouse, Chihiro starts high school with her next door neighbor, and he happens to remind her a lot of Haku...
1. Chapter 1

Sigh…

When did the world around me get so bland? When the excitement go away? Who knows? Wait. I do. The excitement went away five years ago, after I left that bathhouse. And Haku. Or should I say Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi? Either way, I missed him. I could still hear his voice telling me not to look back. I could feel his fingers interlocking mine as we fell over the sea. But what I really clearly remembered was his promise to me that we'd meet again.

I longed for the day that his promise would be kept. But, today was my first day of high school. All I was allowed to long for was that I could graduate. My mom was type A about my grades. Always do the best I can as long as the best I can is always above an eighty. My dad was a bit more laid back. He didn't really care so much about my grades as long as I did my best.

Anyway, I got on my uniform – a white long-sleeved shirt with a black collar with two red stripes and matching cuffs, a black pleated skirt with two red stripes, and a red ribbon tied into a bow – and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Chihiro, you look beautiful in that uniform," Mom said when she saw me. "Beautiful" was a bit of an overstatement, if you ask me.

"You think so?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

I looked over at the counter and saw a plate of prepared breakfast next to my lunch box. Breakfast was just a bowl of rice with boiled egg and a bowl of miso soup. I ate it all as fast as I could, grabbed my bag, and ran out the door. I didn't even say good bye to my parents, which I regretted when I was halfway to school.

My school was just like any other. We had a field for gym class, an auditorium for assemblies, and a cafeteria for those who didn't pack lunch. The only difference was that we were smaller. I had lived in a rather rural area since I left the bathhouse, and not many people lived there. My school had around 200 students total.

I had about 15 of those students in my class, one of which was my neighbor Tatsuya Kamikawa. I always found his name rather interesting. It reminded me of Haku. _He _reminded me of Haku. He looked like him, talked like him, and even called me Sen once. He jokingly brushed the flub off and said it was because the first character in my name can also be read as 'sen.' I accepted it for a while, but now I had my doubts.

Despite the fact that we were neighbors, we didn't see each other very often. I invited him to my birthday parties, and he invited me to his, but other than that, we only saw each other in passing. Now we finally had a chance to connect. The only things I really knew about him were his name, age, birthday, and favorite cake flavor. Same goes for him, I think. He knows my name is Chihiro Ogino, that I'm 15, that my birthday's November 15th, and that my favorite cake flavor is chocolate.

Anyway, my teacher for homeroom was Hasegawa-sensei. She was a relatively young woman with long auburn hair, brown eyes, and glasses. "Good morning, everyone! I trust you all had a wonderful break?" she was trying to get us all hyped up for a whole nother year of school, just like all other teachers do. It never worked, though. This year was no exception. "Why don't we all start be getting to know each other. When I point to you, stand and give a brief introduction of yourself, okay?" The class groaned.

When it was my turn, I said "My name's Chihiro Ogino. I used to live in Tokyo before I moved here five years ago." My teacher motioned for more information out of me, but what else was I supposed to say? That I had to work at a bathhouse for spirits in order to keep my parents from being eaten by an oversized witch? If I said that, people would think I was a total weirdo. I just decided to list a few of my likes. "I like roses, Onigiri, and swimming. I once worked at a bathhouse." I gasped as soon as the last word leaked from my mouth. Please let no one ask about that, I thought to myself. Luckily, no one did.

I just ignored everyone else's introductions, until she got to Tatsuya. He stood up, just like everyone else, and said, "I'm Tatsuya Kamikawa. I, like Chihi— Ogino-san, moved here five years ago." I was shocked when he almost called me by my first name. Because we rarely saw each other, we only ever called each other Ogino-san and Kamikawa-san. I wanted to hear the rest of it, but for some reason, I couldn't focus on him. Instead, I was focusing on Haku, and how he knew my name before I told him.

After homeroom ended, I decided to try to get more acquainted with Tatsuya, so I went over to his desk. "Hi, Kamikawa-san," I said cheerfully.

"Good morning Ogino-san," he replied. He didn't call me Chihiro this time. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. You?"

"Okay, I guess."

I paused, not knowing what to talk about. I finally just decided to bring up his slip-of-the-tongue. "So, earlier you almost called me Chihiro."

He smirked. "Yeah, so what?"

"We usually just call each other by our last names."

"Well, I was hoping we could get past that. Since we'll be seeing each other more often, I think we should go by our first names."

I was slightly taken aback by his straight-forwardness, but I did think it was a good idea. I could finally feel close to him. "Okay. So from now on, I'll call you Tatsuya-san."

"Just Tatsuya."

I was shocked that he wanted to drop the honorifics altogether; since in Japan it's considered extremely impolite to drop honorifics when you barely know someone. "Are you sure? You don't want me to address you as Tatsuya-san?"

"Yes, as long as it's okay if I call you Chihiro."

"Oh… of course, if you don't mind me addressing you like that."

"I don't mind at all. In fact, it makes me feel closer to you," he said in a half-whisper.

I looked solemnly at his face, and pictured Haku. Tatsuya had the same dark green hair Haku had and the same green eyes. The only difference was that Tatsuya's hair was shorter. Apparently, Tatsuya caught me staring at him. "Is there something on my face or…?" he said.

I quickly snapped out of my trance. "Oh, sorry. I just realized that you look a lot like someone I know."

He just looked at me with a surprised expression. "Really?" he finally said. "Who?"

There's no way I could tell him he looked like a river god. He would probably laugh at me. "Just someone at that bathhouse I worked at."

He smiled and blushed a little. "You think so?"

I was confused. The way he said it, it sounded like he knew Haku. "Yeah. His hair was longer than yours, though." I rested my head in my hands. "I really like him, and I miss him. He promised we'd meet again one day, but I don't know if we ever will. It's been five years."

"Well," he chuckled. "You never know. You may meet sometime soon."

"Maybe."

There was a long pause. Neither of us seemed to want to break it. I kinda liked it. It gave me a chance to reflect.

After I left the bathhouse, my family and I settled down in our new house, which was already fully furnished when we arrived. There were days when I'd think about Haku, and on those days, I'd usually end up crying on my bed. Middle school, for me, was very hard to get through because there was never a day when I didn't think about him. I half-lied when I said I really liked him. It was more than that. I loved him. With all my heart. And I'd give anything to see him again.

My train of thought was derailed when my English teacher came in. "Good morning everyone!" he said. "My name is Takeyama. I'm gonna be your English teacher this year."

I quickly returned to my seat and tried to pay attention throughout the day. Teachers came and went; most of their names were forgotten 5 minutes after they were said. When it was time to leave, I was the first one out the door.

It was raining when I got to the shoe lockers. I didn't bring my umbrella, but my house was only a short walk away, so it didn't matter. When I opened my shoe locker to get my street shoes, I saw a piece of paper. I picked it up and read it.

It said: "I kept my promise." That's all.

My face became hot. I knew immediately that Haku was the sender. But where was he? All I could do was run home, and that's what I did.

"Hi, Chihiro! How was school?" Mom asked as I ran upstairs as fast as I could.

"Great, no time to explain!" I ran into my home, closed the door, and posted the note on my wall next to my bed. I giggled with delight as I thought of the possibility that Haku was nearby. "Haku, I miss you. Please come back," I whispered.

"I missed you too, Chihiro," I heard someone whisper back. It sounded like Haku.

"Haku?" I looked around my room to find the source of the voice. I was the only one in my room, though.

"Yes, Chihiro," he said again.

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked.

"In due time, my dear," he said as he faded out. "In due time."

I called to him again, but there was no reply.


	2. Chapter 2

After dinner, I didn't go in the living room and watch TV with my family like I usually do. Today, I went to my room and got in my pajamas.

I looked in the mirror above my dresser. On my mirror was a picture of me when we first moved here. Never before had I noticed how much I had changed since then. My hair had gotten longer, I wasn't as scrawny, but I still had my small brown eyes. Most of my growth had occurred back then. Yubaba was right. I was a spoiled, selfish crybaby with no manners. But in my four-day stay in the spirit world, I had experienced more development than I ever thought I could. I became braver, more responsible, and I had felt something most people my age could only dream of feeling: true love.

Many teenagers don't know the difference between admiration and affection. Admiration's when you look up to or respect a person. Affection is when you have a feeling in the pit of your stomach that the person isn't a role model or a friend, but something more. Haku was much more than a role model or friend.

I looked at the note for a long time, examining every brushstroke of every character. The paper was very old, I could tell. It looked more like antique paper, or paper that had yellowed for hundreds of years. The ink in the writing looked old as well. He spoke very formally in the note, using 'watakushi' and 'waga' instead of 'watashi.' Haku had a way of doing that, usually speaking politely, even when being sharp.

Finally, at midnight, I lied down on my futon, and went to sleep.

The next morning, when I got to my classroom, I noticed that Tatsuya was the only one there, looking out the window next to his desk.

"Good morning, Chihiro," he said, not even turning his head to look at me. "I trust you slept well."

I sat down at my desk. "Why do you care how I slept?"

He didn't answer that question. Instead, he asked me a question in return. "Do you believe in miracles?"

Based on my past experience with spirits, my only answer option would be, "Yes."

"So reuniting with your old friend from the bathhouse would be like some kind of miracle for you, then?" His face was still to the window.

I blushed. "Well, yeah, I guess you could say that."

"But, if you ever do see him again, how will you know he'll even recognize you? Or that he'll remember you? How do you know that he isn't dead right now?"

I thought about that for a while. "Well, Haku's not like that. He liked me as much as I liked him, maybe even more. It's not like him to forget someone he was such great friends with. And I know he isn't dead. He's—" How could I finish that sentence in a way that made sense?

"He's what?" Tatsuya finally turned his head to me.

"He's… he's the greatest person I've ever met. Haku can't be dead."

Tatsuya smirked. "So, his name's Haku?"

"Well, his name is actually Kohaku Nushi," I corrected. Perhaps adding "Nigihayami" would sound a bit weird.

"You remembered his full name…" Tatsuya blushed as a single tear formed in his eye. Why was he crying?

"Are you crying, Tatsuya?"

He said nothing. Finally, students began filing in one by one. Once everyone was seated, homeroom began.

What if Tatsuya was right? What if Haku doesn't remember me? What if he was dead? No, Haku was a god. Gods can't die, can they? If they could, Haku would've died when his river was filled in, right? Oh, I was so confused! I didn't know what to think.

"Ogino! Ogino-san!" Hasegawa-sensei said.

"Oh, sorry. Here."

Later that day, during lunch, Tatsuya asked if he and I could eat outdoors. I didn't expect that we'd be allowed, but we were. We went to the school's unused courtyard and sat on the bench.

"Why are we out here?" I said after five minutes of silence.

"I wanted to ask you something," Tatsuya said brightly, as opposed to his earlier emotion. I think.

"What is it?"

"How would you like to go out with me on a date this Saturday?" He smiled.

I was shocked he'd ask something like that. "Why do you want to go out with me?"

"You don't want to?"

"No, I do… I guess. But why?"

"I want to get to know you better. What more should there be?"

"Good point…"

"Then will you?"

I paused. "Uh… sure."

"Great! How about we meet at the town square at noon?"

And with that, he was off. I didn't even reply. I didn't need to, I guess. My answer to his first question was enough of an answer for his second, I suppose.

That Saturday, it was raining, just as it was on the first day of school. At noon, I was waiting in the town center, just as I promised. Well, I think I promised, anyway. He hadn't shown up yet, and I was getting impatient. _What the hell is so hard about keeping a promise? _I thought. Then I thought of Haku, and how his note was a lie. He hadn't kept his promise. Sure, he talked to me earlier that week, but he hadn't kept his promise to meet with me again.

I dropped my umbrella and started to cry. Soon, I wasn't able to tell my tears from the raindrops. "Haku," I whimpered. "You lied."

"No I didn't Chihiro," the same voice from that night said.

I turned around to see a translucent Haku sitting on a large rock. "Haku!" I shouted with delight. "You came back!"

But when I tried to hug him, he vanished. "Haku…"

"What's the matter, Chihiro?" Tatsuya said as he approached me from behind.

I quickly wiped my face and grabbed my umbrella. "Nothing, Tatsuya."

He smiled at me and took my hand. We decided to eat lunch at a nearby burger joint, the only one in the town. Tatsuya got our food, and we sat down to eat.

We ate in silence for the longest time as I tried to hold back tears. "Tatsuya…"

"Hmm?" he said through his half-chewed up burger.

"Remember what you said about miracles?" I let one tear out. Just one.

"Yeah." He swallowed.

"Well, I'm not sure if I believe anymore. Some promises are just too big to keep."

"Is this about Haku again?" By the tone of his voice, I couldn't tell if he was concerned or annoyed. "Don't worry about it, Chihiro. If this kid is just as loyal you say he is, then the promise will be kept until the end of time."

"I can't wait that long!"

"Maybe you won't have to," he whispered as he stood and grabbed my arm.

"Wait, you didn't finish eating…"

We ran outside and up the hill that led me to the bathhouse, but we stopped at the edge of the forest, next to the shrines. "What are we doing here?" I asked.

Tatsuya looked at me. "Follow me." We walked through the forest until we got to the tunnel that led to the abandoned amusement park. "I'm sure you remember this," he said softly.

"Yeah, I do. Very clearly."

"I would imagine. This place is rather memorable. I'm also sure you remember Yubaba. And Kamajii, Lin, even No Face, right?" he said as he led me through the tunnel.

Wait a second… "How do you know about them?"

He sped up, still hanging tight to my arm. "Because I was once here too."

I was shocked. "You were?"

He began running again. "Yes! In fact, I'm…" He paused as we reached the other side of the tunnel.

"You're what?" I said, releasing his grip of my arm. "Tell me, Tatsuya!"

Tatsuya stepped back and faced me. "I…" he suddenly began to change, "am the spirit of the Kohaku River!" Tatsuya was now a dragon. And not just any dragon, but the one I've been yearning to meet for five years.

"Haku!" I shouted as I embraced his snout.


	3. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hi guys, it's Niji-chama.

Thank you so much for all of the positive feedback! I never expected people to like the story so much since I never considered myself to be a good writer. I really appreciate everything you all have said about the story ^^

As for continuation, I think the story has reached a point where anything happening beyond where it has stopped would be jumping the shark. There isn't really anywhere for the plot to go that would improve the story or enhance readers' interest. As far as I'm concerned, the story has concluded.

Again, thanks for the support and I'm glad you like the story!


End file.
